FootprintTrackerPlayTestingResults

=** Footprint Tracker Play-Testing Results **= To complete play-testing of Footprint Tracker, 6 paper copies of the game were printed out including a 8x11 board, challenge cards, chance cards and rough profiles. The players were split into groups of 3 or 4 to play on each board. Each group had one die, and lastly, a set of directions for each group was printed from what we had on our wiki page. Each player tore a piece from a colored index card and folded it up for use as a game piece, writing his/her initials on it for identification. Lastly, each player used his/her own paper for a scorecard.
 * __Play-Testing #1__**

Directions:
 * a little unclear for some groups about how to get started
 * unclear about who reads the cards when
 * what rotation to use (who goes next)
 * carbon footprint scorecard not present for play-testing (We have since removed this game component as it is not available via GameCrafter. Players will track points on his/her own paper.)

Board:
 * players had a hard time knowing where to move after rolling the die (We have since updated the board to provide a clearer pathway.)
 * the spaces landed on that required immediately adding or subtracting points were liked by most players

Profiles:
 * some players didn't know what a Prius was,
 * all profiles were missing the starting amount of carbon points (We have since updated the profiles to include carbon points)

Play: This group did not have time to finish the game because the period was over, but most players wanted to continue the next day.
 * not all the challenge answers were on the cards (We have since added the answers to the cards)
 * most players were 15 years old, and had a little trouble with a couple of challenge cards
 * players originally thought the "lbs" gained or lost were directly related to his/her personal weight (We have since updated the tracking to points rather then pounds and have defined that 1 point = 1 lb of carbon)
 * once players caught on to how to play, they had fun

After play-testing #1, we discovered that our directions were a little disjointed, so we re-did parts of them and printed them out again for play-testing #2. Play-testing #2 was with older players, better equipped to give constructive feedback. We also added an introduction to be read aloud by one of the players before starting game play.

__**Play-Testing #2**__ Profiles:
 * some still didn't know what a Prius was
 * some players poked fun at the food choices and recycling choices on the profiles
 * still not finished with starting points on profiles
 * some players asked why the profile was even necessary
 * another player suggested that at the end of the game players should be able to relate his/her score with the profile they started with

Roll to start:
 * players were having fun while rolling to start, but some modified the directions and didn't roll each time-they just memorized the order of the original roll and used that.
 * One player even complained a little bit that it was too much rolling at the beginning of the game.

Cards:
 * even though the directions are clearer now
 * some players didn't read through all of them before starting to play so players still made the mistake of reading his/her own challenge card in the first round
 * players suggested having a slight addition of points when answering the question incorrectly
 * the Chance Cards gave the most fun because of the amount of points being added or subtracted
 * there were too many Chance Cards that had adding points instead of a balance of adding and subtracting (We have since addressed this and provided half of each type of equation)
 * No players knew what CFL was in one of the Challenge cards
 * players commented that maybe some of the situations were a little morbid, sad, specifically the one about the uncle dying

Board:
 * same problems as in Play-Testing #1 because there was insufficient time to change it before testing again

ONE group finished the game in 20 minutes, but had to recycle the cards for use.

__**Suggested changes from play-testing results:**__
 * Add shuffling the Challenge/Chance cards during game play if all cards get used to the directions
 * The directions might need to specify that card readers should be sure to read the reasoning behind each correct answer
 * The profile cards need more information, like a little blurb about the person's lifestyle habits and specific carbon points/pounds numbers attached to each category
 * pounds should be changed to points and defined as such to eliminate the possibility of lowering self-esteem
 * more challenge/chance cards
 * more challenge spaces on the board than chance spaces